Create a piece of immersive, original 360 content to demonstrate the capabilities of ambisonic sound on YouTube.

The Process

Partnering with UK beatbox phenomenon Reeps One and the 3D sound specialists at Aurelia Soundworks, Mill+ created 'Does Not Exist' in a timespan of four weeks from shoot to delivery. With the decision to use natural sound effects within physical spaces instrumental framework for the original musictrack, the team scouted locations throughout Southern California that offered richly diverse visual and sonic palettes. Mill+'s expertise in shooting a broad range of VR projects across a variety of platforms and budgets meant that filming was handled swiftly and strategically, allowing production to take place in a timely, cost-effective manner without ever sacrificing quality.

The Outcome

As the first music video of its kind, 'Does Not Exist' set the standard for subsequent videos utilizing ambisonic sound. Its nature as industry-leading content has been exemplified repeatedly at award shows and festivals around the globe, including its world premiere at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2016.

The entertainment space has always served as a breeding
ground for technological experimentation. Over the past several years, such
experimentation has taken flight with the rise of creative, emerging
technologies such as virtual reality (VR). No longer must you, the audience,
simply sit back and watch within a static frame the filmmaker has set for you.
Now you can explore a given space from every angle – 360 degrees around, to be
exact.

Since the dawn of consumer-accessible VR content,
creators around the world have fully embraced the medium and fine-tuned its ever-changing
methodology, accepting 360 media as an undeniable force in the present and
future of storytelling. Music video directors in particular took quickly to the
medium as a new, exciting way of connecting artists to their fans.

As is the nature of technology, there’s always a
next step. Whether viewing VR content by way of a traditional headset, such as
the Samsung Gear VR, or through a smartphone or tablet, you’re engaging in an
immersive, visual experience. But what about harnessing and manipulating other
senses, such as sound?

Following the launch of YouTube 360, which hosts
immersive content on the YouTube website and mobile app, the company decided to
introduce ambisonic sound capabilities to its platform – meaning that users
with the appropriate software would also be fully immersed in sound just as
they were with visuals. With ambisonic capabilities embedded into the
experience, the sound is
spatialized around you and reacts to where your ears are in relation to where
the sounds are, resulting in a sense of immersion in a sonic environment as you
move your head around.

With the impending launch of this new capability,
YouTube sought out fresh content to demonstrate it. It was then that Mill+
entered the conversation: the team began to brainstorm how to demonstrate the
capabilities of ambisonic sound on YouTube in a unique, visually engaging way.

Around the same time, Mill+ consulted with the audio
specialists at Aurelia Soundworks who were on their own mission to showcase
their expertise in ambisonics. The resulting idea was an atmospherically- and
and musically-driven video for UK beatboxing champion Reeps One (a.k.a Harry
Yeff), which would utilize an original track specifically written for composing
in 360 sound.

Once the team knew they wanted to create an
original music piece with the talent of Reeps One attached, it was decided that
each location featured throughout would be effectively used as an instrument.
Mill+ Director Gawain Liddiard and his team of artists and technologists
scouted accessible locations around Southern California that provided stunning
visual and sonic palettes.

“We assigned a different sonic effect to each location,”
Gawain recalls. “For the shack, it was an overdriven speaker; for the concrete
warehouse, it was a slap echo; and so on. We built a catalogue of sounds to use
as instruments, around which the track itself would later be formulated.”

The team knew what they needed to capture from each
environment before they arrived on-set. Gawain continues, “We captured
everything in a quick manner with one camera rather than using a full VR rig.
That generated great visual chunks, and as we developed the song and the
visuals, we massaged them together so the cuts, jumps and beat all worked
together in unison.”

Behind the Scenes

The end product, ‘Does Not Exist’, is full audience immersion in the
center of a musical experience, exploring locations that are both sonically and
visually impressive in a convergence of sound and picture.

The piece was met with an overwhelmingly positive response at its
premiere at the YouTube Beach in Cannes in 2016, and went on to gain
recognition against top sound companies at multiple award shows, including
UKMVA, Raindance and the Proto Awards. It has also toured over two dozen
festivals and exhibitions around the globe, and served as the inspiration for presentations
at the likes of SXSW and beyond. Since its launch, the experience has been made
available on Facebook 360 with an upgraded, state-of-the-art sound mix.

‘Does
Not Exist’ serves as a prime example of what can be done in 360, in a limited
time frame and with lean resources, without sacrificing quality of any kind. With
contributions from our talented collaborators, Mill+ drove the production from
concept to finish while advising on technical solutions that would allow the
team to set the highest possible standard.